Managing Time
by MS
Summary: AU. Syoaran has taken Sakura to his apartment after their date. Anticipating the time that they will spend there, Syoaran has prepared a dinner. In the end, a storm has estranded her there. What will happen in the night? Oneshot...


MS 

This is the third and last part of the Time series for me. Thank you all for your reviews and patience. I hope that you will all be satisfied with the ending.

SUMMARY: Syoaran has taken Sakura to his apartment after their date in where they are finishing her computer class assignment. Anticipating the time that they will spend there, Syoaran has prepared a dinner, while they discuss the future of their relationship. In the end, a lighting storm has closed the roads as the streets are flooded. What will happen in the night ahead?

Disclaimer : I do not own any of the card captor sakura characters... everything else is mine.

**Managing Time**

It all started with the forecast. It was always wrong. It was going to be a wonderfully sunny day with twittering birds and amazing breezes. And that's how it started. But in the end, a thunderstorm had swept through the last hours of the afternoon, and the rain was coming down as if the heavens themselves were running out of room.

Sakura found herself partially soaked, while sitting in the sofa of Syaoran, her tutor's apartment. They had no choice but to run under the starting storm from his parking space toward the comforting dryness of the building in front of them. There was no way to outrun the rain, and the newly produced forecast did not bode well for waiting in the car for a dying wind. It was barely five in the afternoon, but the sky was darkened as if it was actually night.

"I'm sorry I didn't have any umbrellas in the car Sakura," Syaoran came from the bathroom, Sakura guessed, and he handed her an immense towel that would be capable of drying a drowning dog. That was what she surmised her appearance to be at the moment.

"That's fine, I usually don't have any there when I actually need it either." She looked around as she dried her hair with care. It was a mess, but she didn't want to make an impression of carelessness toward the guy that she was currently obsessing over.

Maybe that was a bad choice of words, but it served to completely describe her feelings over Syaoran.

"You have a wonderful apartment," she complemented the decor as her eyes became fixated on a counter filled with frames. They were full of pictures of many different people.

She walked toward them while drying her arms and stomach. Her eyes traveled from picture to picture, slowly focusing on each of the people that they revealed. Most of them were of Syaoran with an older woman and three younger girls, while other people that occupied the picture space differed in each photograph.

By the poses and the stances of the figures, she could surmise her to be his mother. She was incredibly good looking, and also young. The other three women were always smiling. They surrounded Syaoran in the pictures, which probably made them siblings which the familiarity that they stood around each other.

"I see you found them," Syaoran came to her side, his clothing changed.

"I don't think you were hiding them from view," she pointed out as her eyes traveled back towards the frames. "You have a very diverse photographic layout."

"Yeah," he picked out the frame in the middle in which he stood in the middle with his three siblings beside him. "I have a very photogenic family. We're always taking pictures of us together when we find ourselves at our mother's place at the same time."

"Are they your sisters?" Sakura asked as she oriented the picture towards her line of sight. Syaoran stepped behind her so that the picture was cradled in both of their hands.

"Yes," he responded as she turned her head toward his face. "They're older than me. We're all basically living in different cities right now, so we don't get together as much as we would like."

"Did they terrorize you as a kid?" Sakura asked mischievously as her eyes went to an old picture of Syaoran. He seemed to be around ten years old, and his sisters were grinning toward the photographer while his visage lay serious, almost revealing a sense of sibling harassment.

"Oh yeah," he smiled as he placed the picture back towards its place. "It was mainly to embarrass me, as it was nothing vicious."

"I know the feeling," Sakura turned completely toward his body, standing face-to-face with him, the towel in between their bodies. "My brother is older than me, and he completely terrorized me as a kid. Still, every time that I was in trouble he went beyond the call of filial relations to make me happy."

"That must have been nice," Syaoran took the slightly wet towel from her and walked her toward the bathroom. "I placed a t-shirt and a pair of sweatpants by the sink. You should change your clothes so that you'll dry faster. You can place yours in the drier so that you'll be comfortable."

"Thanks," Sakura glanced around the room as she took off her wet clothing. She grabbed the clothing by the sink and placed it by her body. The pants were a bit long, she figured the part that she would have to roll up was the actual difference in height in between her and Syaoran.

She couldn't actually believe it. She was actually putting on some of his clothing in his apartment. What actual circumstances there were to drive her in this position.

She'd been expecting to spend a few hours working with him on her assignment, maybe eating something that he had bought or prepared, and then having him drive her home at around midnight. Instead she had gotten soaked by the untrusting weather and was actually getting naked in his bathroom.

She placed her shoes by the drier as she placed her clothing in there, finding his own already at the bottom with a couple of fabric softener papers.

Ok, so she was a bit of a snoop. She had to look. This was a chance she would not have for a while. She had to look around and see how he organized his bathroom. You could tell a lot of things about a person from their bathrooms. Especially the person you were currently obsessing over.

Just a quick glance revealed a pair of new socks and boxers. Her mind went blank at seeing them in the drier. Dropping her clothing quickly inside and setting it to start, Sakura felt her cheeks grow warm.

It was such a personal item to see. And it was currently going around with her bra. Such intimate garments from opposite sexes were actually in contact. She'd had no choice though. Her upper body had been thoroughly soaked while they had run toward his apartment. The while blouse had gone completely see-through by the time they had walked into his apartment.

Her white push-up bra had absorbed most of the water from the contact with the blouse and the lacy material had left an imprint for all to see. Sakura had been self-conscious of her attire as a brush of the air-conditioner air in the place had completely frozen her as she entered the place.

Her nipples were still hard. She was sure that he had noticed them when he handed her the towel to dry off. Still, with her mortification, as this was the first time they had actually been on a date, she had avoided seeing his reaction to it. He had just tried to leave the room as soon as possible.

She grimaced as she looked in the mirror. Her hair was in shambles. She needed a brush, or even a comb to make it appear in a semblance of control.

Having the perfect excuse to snoop, she opened the drawers and inspected every little corner of the sink. She saw many things that she had seen in her father's bathroom. There was a packet of razors with plenty of shaving cream to last a man through many months she believed. He had everything organized in its place, and easily accessible to any occasion.

"Syaoran is really organized," Sakura found an old brush in one of the drawers and went to work. She had to actually wet her hair once again, before being able to get her hair in order in the end.

Having spent nearly half an hour inside the bathroom, she was sure that Syaoran hadn't come barging in because he hadn't heard a cry for help.

Stepping out, she commenced to smell an aroma of food. Following the scent, she entered the kitchen of the spacious apartment and found Syaoran behind the open refrigerator door pulling some lettuce and tomatoes out.

"You're finally out," he said as he noticed her prescience. "I thought you had gotten lost in the vortex in the linen closet." He joked as she approached him.

"I nearly did," she responded as he finished garnishing the salad and placed it in the refrigerator.

"Dinner will be ready by the time we finish the assignment." Syaoran led her toward a room where his computer equipment was placed, as well as a small cot in one of the corners. "Does the clothing I lent you fit? If there's some trouble with it I could look for something more comfortable for you Sakura."

"It's perfect." She replied as she demonstrated it. "I had to fold a bit of the legs in the sweat pants as you are obviously taller than me, and the t-shirt is a bit looser than what I usually wear to be comfortable, but it's all comfortable. Thank you for lending them."

"No problem," Syaoran started his computer while he offered her the chair in front of it. "There's not much left to do since we started the project yesterday at the center's computer. We just need to finish the last page of the program and save it to the disk."

"That should be easy enough to do," Sakura took her books and disks from her backpack, which she had left in his apartment before going to the movies, and they both started on the work.

"This isn't so bad," Sakura smiled as she stretched her hands. The computer screen was currently saving her work on her disk. The assignment was finished, and she was glad for it. "With you to explain the problems I find this class is a breeze."

"You're giving me too much credit," Syaoran blushed as he finished putting away some of his basic computer programs' books.

"It's true," Sakura stood from the seat and continued her limbering movements. She'd been stuck in that chair for over an hour and a half, bent over a book. Well, she'd also spent a couple of minutes leaning over Syaoran's frame as he explained her problem areas.

"I know I'm not going to be able to continue taking classes in this field, and you are the reason why I'm not actually failing this class, or have an abysmal grade in it. For that I'll be extremely grateful."

Syaoran's eyes were currently glued on her backside. She kept moving her body into different positions that sent alerts from synapse to synapse in his brain. He could hear the vibrations of her voice, but he couldn't concentrate on the words as different images went through his brain.

Sakura was currently wearing his clothes. He could see that her skin was actually touching his clothes. Ok, so he was currently thinking like an immature teenager, but when it came to her, those things kept on popping into his brain. He couldn't help it.

"Syaoran," Sakura was currently standing in front of him, trying to catch his attention. "What are you thinking about? You're in your own little world."

"You," he had actually blurted it out. He felt so awkward at her expression, not really understanding what it could mean.

"What about me?" She asked as she walked closer to him. Just one step that put their shirts in contact.

Syaoran felt her hand on his arm. The contact brought the hairs in them to stand on end. Her fingers lightly brushed his inner right palm, as she leaned upwards and kissed him.

Syaoran moved his hands toward her waist. He brought her completely toward his side, letting their bodies come in full contact. Sakura moved one of her hands toward his side, moving over his shirt and reaching toward his shoulder blades to better anchor herself.

He was taller than her so she needed all the help she could get to not topple over and fall backwards.

While her mouth was currently occupied with his, she started pushing him lightly toward one of the corners in the room. He stepped back bit by bit, making sure not to break their lips' contact and fell backwards on the small bed.

His legs were still by the side, while Sakura currently laid on top of him.

Putting his hands to better use, he used the position to slide one under her shirt as it let a big gap as she leaned over him. She was currently taking charge of the kiss, moving upwards over his body and settling herself over one of his thighs.

"Sakura," he called her attention as she stopped the kiss to get better leverage.

"Yes," her lips were hovering over his, her eyes currently watching his reaction.

"I am extremely attracted to you," he told her as his hand traveled lightly, creating goose bumps as it moved from her stomach toward her back in circular motions.

"I certainly hoped so after this kiss," she smirked as her blood thudded loudly inside her ears.

"Yes, I think it is apparent, but I needed to tell you," Syaoran breathed slowly, trying to return his heart to normal heartbeats. He felt extremely aroused, feeling her lower body so close to his, also pretty sure that she could feel his arousal on the side of her right hip that was currently rubbing against it.

"So do I," she laughed at her words. "If me throwing myself over you hadn't actually given it away while we kissed."

He laughed at her ironic words, pulling her and letting her body fall over his completely. "It's good to be told though to leave any misunderstandings out."

"True," she responded while setting her head over the crook of his shoulder. Her nose was buried on his hair, taking a whiff that sprung her senses into action. His hair felt soft on her face, its smell the same as the bottle of men's shampoo that she had found in his shower. A bit lower she could start to sniff the metallic hint of aftershave.

"You have a metallic smell," she whispered to his ear as he turned toward his side so that they were face to face on the small cot.

"What does that mean?" He asked confused by the description.

"I don't know how to describe it. It's your aftershave." She struggled to put her thoughts into words that he could understand.

"It smells sexy." She seemed to like the explanation as she didn't speak after that.

He tried to assimilate her words as he felt her nose bury itself into the crook of his neck as she came forward, brushing back and forth in the same space.

"You smell of flowers," he told her as he brought her face out of his neck and into his line of vision. "A mix of flowers."

"It's my shampoo and soap," she smiled as his fingers traced her lower lip as she spoke. Getting a bit adventurous, she let the tip slip into her mouth and sucked lightly on it, running the tip of her tongue over it. It had a salty taste.

He was blushing again. He withdrew his finger as he felt her snip it after her ministrations. "You're wonderful," he breathed in her scent before taking her mouth again in an intense kiss.

With a bit of a tussle, he found himself over her, their tongues weaving a war with each other and her hands roaming over his frame. Her hands stopped over the nape of his neck, where they started to brush the delicate baby hairs that resided there. The brush of her hands over the delicate spot elicited a groan of arousal from him.

As he continued to assault her senses with his kiss, one of his hands slipped slowly from her waist toward her ribcage. As he traced her ribs one by one, his palm brushed one of her breasts. Coming in contact with the soft mound, brought his intensity down.

It was going way to fast for them. He could tell that she was a bit apprehensive, as her breathing stopped with the contact. They might be attracted to each other, but there were still a lot of things to be considered and done before they could even start down this road.

A timer in the kitchen went off at the very second. Dinner was ready to be served.

Looking into her features, Syaoran saw desire and want still flush in her features. He was sure that he was revealing the same emotions on his. "You're beautiful." He didn't know where that had burst out from, but it was the truth. Her hand traveled from his neck toward his jaw, where she rubbed her knuckles playfully over his skin.

"Does this mean we're going out Syaoran?" Sakura asked as she felt him withdraw from their embrace.

He extended a hand to help her get up from the bed as the question hanged in the air. Syaoran didn't know how to respond to the question. "I want you to be my girlfriend Sakura."

"Yes," she promptly answered as he finished the last word. Excitement seemed to burst out of every pore of her body. "That would make me very happy."

"I hope to make you happy," he whispered as the timer went off again alerting the couple. "But let's eat something before the dinner burns."

He lead her back toward the kitchen where with his directions she set the table. Placing the things in their place, they spent a quiet dinner. Sakura sampled each of the things he had prepared, while Syaoran asked her opinion on his culinary skills. It wasn't a feast, but he clearly didn't starve. He knew how to prepare a wholesome meal.

They talked a bit about their thoughts for their future. Shared a bit of horror stories of pranks their siblings had played on them, and discussed the roles their parents had played in their lives. Sakura was amazed at how many of their experiences matched. He was raised by his mother, while she had been raised by her father as sole parents.

They had enjoyed each other's company throughout the meal as they shared parts of their lives. At the end, she had helped him clean up the place. They had compared habits and what their hobbies had let them experience in their lives.

"I can't believe we can have so much in common and yet have such bizarre differences." Sakura said as she placed the last plate in its place. She looked outside the window to find it being pebbled by the still thundering rain.

It was nearly eight pm and the storm was still going strong.

Syaoran led her toward the living room and both watched the local channels for updates in the storm.

"The tornado warning will last until 8:30 PM this night in the area," the forecaster said to the camera as a map with the moving storm changed images behind it. The camera went back toward the newscaster of the station.

"Thank you. For viewers just tuning in, the tornado warning will be lifted at 8:30 PM. Most of the streets are littered with branches of trees, and leaves. There have been numerous traffic accidents around the metropolitan area and most of the old tunnels in the main roads are currently underwater. It is heavily advised for the viewers to remain at home while this thunderstorm passes and not put their selves in unnecessary danger by risking the roads."

"I should call Touya and tell him not to worry," Sakura walked towards the phone by the television and regaled her news to her brother.

"How did he take it?" Syaoran came from his bedroom with some sheets. He recalled the tall man that had brought Sakura toward his apartment early in the afternoon. They had barely exchanged names as Touya made it clear with his glare that if anything happened to his sister while in Syaoran's company, that a catastrophe would soon follow.

"Not well," she responded as they settled down on the sofa and he placed the sheet over their bodies. "But he knows the streets just like I do, and he knows that with the tunnels flooded, that we'll not have an easy way of getting home from here. It's really better not to risk being on the road when one of these storms breaks out in the city at this time of the year."

"You've lived here your whole life right?" He asked trying to recall if she had mentioned it before.

"Yes," she answered while burrowing deeper into his side. "Touya is currently attending an university out of state, but he's here over the weekend for his fall break. He needed the car as well, so I let him borrow mine today as I was going to be here with you."

"That was nice of you."

"Well, I had him not do his usual big brother act as he brought me here," she blushed at the admission, eliciting a chuckle from Syaoran. "He really takes that job seriously."

"He should," Syaoran brushed a bit of her bangs from her face as he tilted it upwards so that he could brush his lips with hers. "I'm sure all the guys want to get your attention."

"That's a bit of an exaggeration," she mumbled as the butterfly kisses increased in length.

"No, it's not," he replied as they settled in for a slow kiss. Their mouths opened as they came in contact. He nibbled her lower lip as she gave him access to her mouth. Their tongues brushed tentatively, the light scraping sensation of their teeth on each other's tongues enough to elicit a shiver of expectation in their touch.

Their efforts went further, as they broke away. He continued to move his hands around the nape of her throat while she placed a small kiss in his collarbone.

They stayed in that position for some time. They watched the news, while their contact continued but an otherwise silence infused the apartment. Neither felt it necessary to fill it with words as they let their hands maintain physical contact.

"I rented a movie some days ago that I haven't had the time to see," Syaoran said after the tornado warning had passed. The rain continued to fall steadily on the windowpanes, but the intensity of the thunder was dwindling. "It's Lucky Number Slevin , have you seen it?"

"Let's watch it then," the clock on the wall read twenty minutes until nine. They had plenty of time to go into the night.

They settled into a huge recliner that was in the corner of the room and let the movie play. The time passed as the story moved along. They smiled, they laughed, and they gasped at the same intervals.

"Of course he had to die," Sakura told Syaoran as the movie started. "It was so obvious." The comment was made at the start of the movie.

"Luci was made for this role," both of the laughed at the romantic character's interactions. "They have great chemistry."

"I can't believe he killed her," Sakura gasped as the female character fell from the bullet wound and a pool of blood formed around her chest and slipped down her body. "That's terrible."

Syaoran laughed with Sakura as both lead characters embraced in the end. "They redeemed their selves with this ending." The music and credits started to roll. "That was a great movie," Sakura leaned away as Syaoran walked towards the DVD player and turned it off, leaving the television on a movie channel.

"Do you want to go to sleep?" Sakura asked as Syaoran walked back to the recliner.

"I don't need to get up early tomorrow," he replied as he adjusted the sheets over Sakura who was currently yawning. "You can take the bed in my room for the night if you're tired. I can sleep in the cot."

"No," she motioned for him to sit back down on the recliner with her. They spooned until they found their comfortable position again and settle in as a movie started on TV. "Let's just stay here for a while."

"Alright." Snuggled to each other's bodies, the night slipped away. They talked about their childhoods and their friends. They told each other about memories and experiences in school when they were younger.

Syaoran talked about his problems with being the only male in the household, where it was expected that he follow in the family tradition and take over the company that was the whole family's livelihood. Sakura in turn told him of the antics she had to put up with her friend Tomoyo who had a penchant for dressing up Sakura in otherworldly costumes.

Little by little, they weren't strangers at all. Their responses became intimate as another smile was shared. Whisperings and small kisses let the clock continue on. Hours later Syaoran noticed that Sakura had stopped making her comments to his story or to the current television program playing.

He looked at her face, her eyes were closed and her lips were slightly parted. A small breath and light breathing spaced her chest as each second had passed. She had fallen asleep. Syaoran tried to remove his arm from her shoulders, but that just made her nestle deeper into his side, one of her arms clearly enrolled in the material around his midriff.

He hoped she wouldn't feel uncomfortable in the morning. Taking the remote from the side table, he turned the TV off and closed his own eyes.

It had been a wonderful day. It hadn't gone as planned but, in the end it had managed to create a situation that had brought him closer to the object of his attention.

Syaoran placed a kiss on her forehead as a small grunt left her lips as he settled into the position for the rest of the night. A smile broke over his face as he closed his eyes and let slumber finally claim him.

It had been a long day. Still, he wouldn't mind repeating the experience.

"We should do this again," he whispered as his eyes closed involuntarily as fatigue claimed him.

Sakura's eyes centered on his features as he fell deeper into slumber beside her. The storm could still be heard as the rain kept hitting the window pane. The lullaby continued to let her slip back into sleep.

Before going under again, she brushed his locks from his forehead and snuggled deeper into his shirt. "That can be arranged."

THE END

* * *

I hope you enjoyed it readers. This is definitely longer than I expected. Leave a review with your comments, and thank you for reading.

I actually have plans for other stories in CCS that I am currently writing, and here's a summary of a few:

_Darkening Face_ - horror/suspense/romance/lime - SxS, AU, one-shot. It might actually become a lemon with how it goes, who knows. Sakura is running through the trees for her life. There's a horrible man right behind her with a chainsaw, and he's going to kill her. How did she get into this mess?

_Doggie Troubles_ - romance/humor/general - SxS, AU, one-shot. It all started with a stray dog. How Sakura got into that compromising position in his house Syaoran had no idea. How is he going to get out of this problem?

_Long 9 Months_ - romance/lime/humor - multi-chapter, SxS, AU. After turning 18 years old, Syaoran has encountered a dilemma. Under law, he can't touch his girlfriend Sakura, until she's turned of age as well. How will he deal with the withdrawal of what was freely given before? Especially when the girlfriend keeps trying to compromise him.

_Math Sessions_ - romance/general - SxS, AU, multi-chapter. Syaoran has tutored Sakura in math in the past few years. During of which, they have both arrived to many conclusions. She is horrible in the subject. He is completely in love with her. Will he survive?

These are my current ideas, but I don't know when they'll be ready to post. Keep checking for updates everyone.

Review button is right here...

MS


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